CES 2023: The big ideas shaping the future

Unless you’ve spent your life hiding in a cabin in the woods, foraging for food and whittling your own furniture (in which case, how are you even reading this?) you’ve either read about, seen or even visited the infamous Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Billed as “The Most Influential Tech Event in the World”, it’s a place where some world-changing technologies have made their debuts and where you’ll find solutions to things that you didn’t even realise were a problem.

It's something of an institution and a rite of passage for tech companies, who also bring concepts and works in progress to the show to get an honest appraisal from the media, peers and the tens of thousands of tech-savvy attendees who travel from all over the world. In the run up to each CES, there’s a mass of speculation around what the ‘killer tech’ will be that year, and there are plenty of brands that generate genuine excitement. However, this year much of the pre-show talk is around CES’s chosen theme: ‘Human Security for All’, which supports the work of the United Nations and hopes to highlight “how technology helps people to tackle the world’s most pressing problems”. Life enhancing products will be highlighted and keynotes will cover the kinds of innovations that make a substantial impact, improving the lived experiences of people around the world.

The time feels right for such a statement in the realms of consumer technology. Because if you feel like we’re on the edge of some incredible and global movements, then you’d be right. Tech is addressing some important real-world issues and there are four areas that are likely to be right at the front and centre of CES in January 2023.

Digital healthcare & wellness

Of course, healthcare is still firmly on the agenda and learnings from the pandemic are having a here and now impact on the way that technology and healthcare intersect. For example, Covid 19 taught us that we’re ok with home testing, and this is something that is likely to inform new approaches to diagnostics which can be used in tandem with advances in virtual healthcare solutions and wearables. 2023 will no doubt bring further innovations that may use technology to address issues of global health inequality. And as our webinar predicted at the beginning of 2022, the use of AI and big data is going to be really powerful tool in field of preventative care.

Cybersecurity & personal privacy

This should probably be top of the list, as it’s going to be priority number one for businesses and individuals alike. Gartner predicts that in 2023 there will be over 43 billion connected devices in the world, which translates into a staggering number of potential risks. This means that at CES we’re likely to see security solutions across a huge range of applications – in the home, on our bodies, in our cars and especially in the workplace. This is particularly high profile now that most organisations operate a hybrid working model which effectively turns millions of homes into an extension of corporate offices. This also means that 2023 is the year of education, as businesses work hard to instil best practice in individuals and teams.

Sustainability

It’s certainly a path well-travelled but the surge of great ideas that apply technology as a part of the solution to climate change are going nowhere. There will be masses of exciting new tech in areas of energy conservation, agriculture, smart cities and more that visitors will be able to discover at CES. Plenty of companies will also be using their keynote platforms and panel discussions to talk sustainability. This means that we can expect to hear all about the goals they are setting and how they’re becoming more energy efficient. However, the excellent sustainability news lies in the significant narrative shift towards responsible recycling and sustainable materials management – something we have been pioneering and championing for many years.

Metaverse/Web 3.0

2022 hasn’t been the greatest year for the idea of the metaverse, but that’s not to say that the bad press has been entirely reflective of what’s really going on. While all eyes have been on Meta, the concept of an immersive, inclusive and distributed virtual universe has been progressing at pace. Ground level users, such as gamers and content creators, are already reporting a real excitement and readiness to invest in the tech that will bring their metaverse ambitions to life. If you were a gambling person, Augmented Reality would be where the smart money is – for now. But after years of being ‘the next big thing’ the world is finally gaining an appetite for Virtual Reality, and this will no doubt be a huge presence at CES.

Canon USA will be exhibiting at CES® 2023, where they will be giving visitors the opportunity to discover plenty of new imaging innovations, as well as a couple of exciting surprises!